The S'Evan Series
by Ster J
Summary: Spock meets up with his brother Perrin's son at a crucial time in the boy's life. S'Evan is inspired by US Nat'l Bronze champion Evan Lysacek. Even without pointed ears, he looks Vulcan!
1. S'Evan

T itle: S'Evan

Author: Ster Julie

Codes: S, OMC (S'Evan)

Genre: Angst

Rating: K+

Summary: Spock meets up with his young half-brother, Perrin's son S'Evan. Takes place after STTNG Unification.

A/N: I am shamelessly "borrowing" ideas from several people. Cheree Cargill first coined the "Awakening". The _"reldai"_ as shown here was also stolen from Cheree, who developed the idea from the Vulcan-Standard Dictionary. The plot point that Spock has to return to Vulcan from Romulus to use the services of the _reldai_ is from the stories of Kathy Davis. The character S'Evan was based on U.S.national bronze medallist Evan Lysacek, who looks Vulcan even without the pointed ears!

--ooOoo--

Spock was not surprised to see the family estate shuttered. He had heard that Perrin had vacated the house recently and had moved back to Earth. What did surprise him was that the guest suite looked as if it was being used. He set his satchel down in the hallway and went to investigate.

Finding no one in the rooms, Spock moved wearily out to the garden area. There, sitting on the same bench that was Spock's favorite as a boy, was a young Vulcan male that he did not recognize.

At least, Spock _assumed_ he was Vulcan. The position he was in--elbows on knees, head in hands--was not characteristically Vulcan, but the waning daylight gave the young man away as it kissed the tips of his pointed ears.

Spock was sure to make sufficient noise as he shuffled closer so as not to surprise the distraught young Vulcan.

"What troubles thee?" Spock asked gently.

The youth leaped off the bench at Spock's approach. The elder Vulcan took in the familiar features of the boy.

"S'Evan?" he breathed. He had last interacted with the son of Sarek and Perrin nearly twenty years ago when the boy was still an infant.

S'Evan's face crumpled in relief.

"Brother!" he sighed. "Oh, it is good that you are here!"

Spock tried to step back, but there was no avoiding the youth's crushing embrace.

"Where is thy mother, child?" Spock said as he disentangled himself from his young brother.

S'Evan lowered his eyes. Spock noticed that the tips of the young man's ears were verdant with . . . embarrassment?

"I sent her away," S'Evan whispered.

"Explain," Spock prodded softly.

S'Evan raised anguished eyes. "I _burn,_ brother!" he hissed.

"The Awakening?" Spock breathed.

S'Evan nodded.

"Where is thy betrothed?" Spock questioned.

S'Evan shook his head. "Our father never arranged a bonding for me," he revealed. "I do not know if he was unsuccessful in finding a bride for me, or if he intended for me to choose for myself."

"And thee have had no other male Vulcan role models to guide thee since Sarek became ill," Spock stated.

S'Evan looked at his brother quizzically. "Is that not why thee are here, my brother?"

Spock shook his head. "No one sent for me," he explained quietly. "I had a need to come home."

"Need?" S'Evan echoed.

Spock dropped his gaze. "I burn as well."

S'Evan was distraught for his brother. "But thy wife . . . "

"Died the night thee were born," Spock continued.

"But what have thee done in the interim . . ." "S'Evan caught himself from blurting out the rest of his very personal question.

Spock answered it anyway. "I have used the services of the _reldai_," he replied gently. "Sarek first took me to the _reldai_ at age seventeen when I reached Awakening."

"Seventeen?" S'Evan breathed. "So young!"

Spock nodded. "My betrothed and I were far too young to be married at that time, so Sarek had the _reldai_ help my through that first Time." Spock had to repress a shudder as memories of that first stirring spiked his fever. He could not give his young brother the information or the reassurance he needed at this time without pushing himself further into_ plak tow._ "The _reldai_ will teach thee all you need to know. They are very kind and extremely gifted, if impersonal." Spock paused to gather himself again. "I have made arrangements for myself already. It would be a simple thing to ask them to prepare for thy arrival as well."

S'Evan looked away nervously.

_/It seems that Father was not as strict with S'Evan's training as he was with me/_ Spock mused as he watched the emotions flutter across his young brother's face.

"I will not know what to do," the boy mumbled.

Spock raised a skeptical eyebrow at his brother, as if to say _Oh, really?_

S'Evan blushed furiously. "Book learning is far removed from actually doing . . . _it."_

Spock gazed affectionately as his oh so young brother and nodded toward the house. "Let us gather what we need, S'Evan-kam, and prepare to leave at first light," he said gently.

As the two brothers walked back to the house, a rare cool breeze circled the garden and caressed their fevered cheeks. Spock remembered back to that time when Sarek brought him to the _reldai._ He remembered the unabashed pride in Sarek's eyes and voice as he spoke words of comfort. Spock turned to S'Evan and related them.

"If Sarek were here, my brother," he began, "I am certain that he would say to thee what he said to me at my Awakening." Spock cupped S'Evan's face in his hands. _"'You have never been more Vulcan than on this day.'"_

S'Evan's back straightened with pride even as his eyes misted with tears.

"I miss Father," he whispered with quivering chin.

Spock nodded, not voicing it, but admitting to himself that he, too, missed Sarek, the father he remembered before the illness began to eat at the man he was, the brilliant mind.

"Will thee stand in for Sarek for me?" S'Evan whispered. "At least until I am of majority?"

Spock paused. S'Evan was asking him to be his surrogate father as he finished "growing up." Spock looked into the pleading eyes of his lonely, nearly orphaned little brother and remembered how it felt to be cut off from Sarek at that age. Spock's indecision lasted but a moment. Because of the _plak tow_ that hovered at the edge of his control, he did not open his arms to the boy. Spock used his voice and a tender gaze to welcome the boy into his tutelage.

"I am honored."

End Chapter 1


	2. The Sand Baths

Title: The Sand Baths

Author: Ster Julie

Codes: S, OMC

Genre: Angst

Rating: T

Summary: Spock's _pon farr_ and S'Evan's Awakening have passed, thanks to the _reldai_. Spock makes some disturbing discoveries about his young brother.

--ooOoo--

Spock was luxuriating in the feel of the warm sand baths. He was submerged in the steamy silt to the top of his torso. A _reldai_ stood behind him and gently massaged the tension and exhaustion from his neck and shoulders.

Another _reldai_ escorted a subdued S'Evan to the baths. Spock discreetly examined his half-brother through lowered lashes. The boy just stood at the edge of the tub, unmoving, staring blankly.

"S'Evan-kam?" Spock questioned gently.

S'Evan looked at the two women yet said nothing.

Spock made a small motion of dismissal and the _reldai_ left, gliding silently from the room.

"Enter the tub," Spock suggested. "There is sufficient room for us both. The sands will relax thee."

S'Evan blushed furiously. "I am . . . unable to enter at this time," he murmured.

Spock flicked a gaze at the front of his brother's robe. Sure enough, there was a tell-tale tenting at his groin. "Thy condition is not fatal," Spock soothed. "It is merely a reflex action. Enter freely. I will not watch."

S'Evan stepped up then down into the sand bath and settled himself into the silky warmth.

True to his word, Spock did not open his eyes until he heard the whisper of fabric hitting the stone floor as S'Evan dropped his robe. He called for the women to return.

Spock noticed that S'Evan seemed uncomfortable with the _reldai's_ massage.

"Her touch disturbs thee?" Spock questioned gently. "Has thy Time not passed?"

S'Evan sat forward quickly, his hands clasping his knees. "If Mother only knew that I let these temple prostitutes . . . "

"S'Evan!" Spock barked sharply in rebuke. He turned to the women. "I beg forgiveness for my brother's words."

The women nodded at the apology but kept silent and did not continue the massage.

"S'Evan," Spock scolded, "the _reldai_ just saved our lives. They are not 'prostitutes.' Consider them closer to medical personnel. They provide a vital service to males in their Time of need. Without their service you would have been dying in madness right now."

S'Evan blinked. Spock had switched from speaking to him in the familiar to the impersonal. "You don't know that," S'Evan countered. "I'm young. I could have meditated my way through this."

"Alone?" Spock opposed. "With no one to guide you through the rigorous meditations that only kolinahr adepts have mastered? What you planned was both foolish and dangerous."

S'Evan looked at Spock with angry fire in his eyes, expecting the same in his brother's visage. What he saw instead was sincere concern. S'Evan's emotions evaporated as quickly as a bursting bubble. He reclined in the sand bath once more and turned to the women. "Forgive my outburst," he said sincerely. "My brother is right. I was wrong to attach such a derogatory label on thee. I would be honored if thee would continue thy services."

Spock nodded in agreement, secretly pleased that the boy was a quick learner. The women stepped forward and resumed the massages. After several minutes, the women left so that the men could soak in the warmth.

"S'Evan?" Spock asked.

"Mm?" came the relaxed reply.

"May I speak openly with thee?" Spock continued.

"Mm," S'Evan answered sleepily.

"What are thy plans?"

"Specify."

"What are thy life goals?"

S'Evan looked over at Spock, then looked away.

"Thee has made plans, no?" Spock asked.

"Everything was put on hold when Father became ill," S'Evan muttered.

"On hold?" Spock echoed. "What school do thee attend? What is thy main course of studies?"

S'Evan lowered his gaze and shook his head.

"Thee are not in school?" Spock inquired, astounded.

"I had to stay at home and help with Father," S'Evan whispered, remembering those awful times when he had to strong arm Sarek into bathing and eating, to hold him back from striking Perrin, when he had to endure Sarek's strong words and a few blows himself.

Spock could tell by S'Evan's haunted gaze that the boy had endured much, sacrificed much during their father's illness. Sarek suffered no more, so therefore it was S'Evan's turn to heal and to take care of his own needs.

"When we are both sufficiently recovered from our Time, brother," Spock announced, "we will get thy life back on track."

S'Evan nearly smiled at Spock's choice of idiom. Perrin had told her son the same thing many times in the past few years. "We will complete thy initial studies of _c'thia,_ we will evaluate your gifts and find a school that will best suit your talents."

S'Evan looked fondly at his much older brother. "Thee are taking this 'surrogate father' role quite seriously, I see," he observed, nearly smiling. "Will thee require me to call you _'sa-mekh'_ as well?"

Spock returned his young brother's familiar gaze and half smile. "Thee may call me whatever thee wish," he replied, settling deeper into the warm silt. "In the meantime, I only require that thee call me for end meal."

End part 2


	3. Unwinding

Title: Unwinding

Author: Ster Julie

Genre: General?

Codes: S, OMC

Rating: K+

Summary: Spock discovers his brother's true passion

--ooOoo--

"Brother, why are we walking home from the _reldai?"_

"I find the walk through the desert beneficial. It helps me to refocus."

"It is such a long way, and I am starting this journey so fatigued."

"I suspect that thee were quite pampered in thy youth, S'Evan-kam."

"I never had to walk this far in the heat."

"Did thee not take thy _kahs-wan?"_

"No."

"No?"

"No. I was quite sickly the year I was to take the test."

"I did not know that. Perhaps that is why Sarek never arranged a bonding for thee."

"Is it a requirement?"

"Some families think so. However, the debacle surrounding my own bonding may have kept our father from repeating a grave mistake."

"May I ask what happened at thy bonding?"

"My bonding was unremarkable."

"But . . ."

"It was my marriage that was the tragedy. My first marriage."

"May I ask what happened?"

"My bride dared the _kali-fee."_

"What!"

"She made me fight my captain for her hand."

"If thee are here, that means that thy captain was killed."

"Not exactly."

"Not exactly?"

"Our chief medical officer saved him through some trickery."

"What happened to thy bride?"

"I wanted nothing of her, so I released her."

"But . . . "

"The battled sufficed. It was a difficult time for me. Let us talk no more of it. Let us talk of thee now."

"Of my experiences with the _reldai?"_

"No. What happens with the _reldai_ stays with the _reldai,_ understood?"

"Yes, Brother."

"We will stop at that hill in the distance. There is a shelter there for those making this journey. Perhaps then thee will tell me why thee carries such a bulky pack."

"Well, I didn't know what to take with me."

"I apologize that I was not in a position to tell thee what to bring."

"No apology is required."

"So, will thee tell me what takes up so much room in thy carry sack?"

"Nothing of importance."

"S'Evan-kam."

"All right. Air skates."

"Air skates?"

"Yes."

"Air skates."

"Yes."

"What did thee plan to do with the air skates at the _reldai?"_

"Skating helps me to relax, to unwind."

"Indeed. Skates. With the _reldai."_

"Thee said thyself that thee were in no condition to tell me what to pack. Besides, my skates go _everywhere_ with me."

"Obviously."

"Skating is also how I meditate."

"That explains much."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Thee do not seem to be in full control of thy passions. I am still concerned that thee have no life focus."

"Perhaps I do."

"Indeed?"

"I will show thee when we reach the rest stop."

--

T he two brothers refreshed themselves with water once they reached the shelter at the base of the hill. After twenty minutes of rest and quiet, S'Evan started to explore the area. There was a broad plain, nearly flat, at the base of the hill. _/This will do nicely/_ he thought.

S'Evan rummaged in his bag and pulled out the air skates. The ground here was a hard packed white sand. _/Perfect/ _S'Evan thought. He removed his soft desert boots and pulled on the air skates. Powering them up, S'Evan glided tentatively along the ground, getting a feel for this surface, bending to remove a few stones. He marked out an oval for himself by gliding along on one foot while dragging the other along the sand. Once satisfied, S'Evan moved to the middle of his "rink" and, to music only he could hear, began to leap and spin and fly around, jut skimming the surface of the sand.

-

A faint buzzing sound and the whoosh of fabric disturbed Spock's rest. He looked around the shelter and noticed two things. First, S'Evan was not present. Second, the boy's carry sack was noticeably lighter.

S pock stepped outside the shelter and, silhouetted by the splendor of the setting sun, backlit in hues of russet, scarlet and gold, he found his young brother flying across the white sand. Spock watched, captivated, as S'Evan poured out his passion with majestic leaps and dizzying spins.

S pock found his brother's performance so highly emotional, so passionate, that he felt as if he was intruding on an intimate moment. He felt as if he should give S'Evan his privacy, but his performance so mesmerized Spock that the elder Vulcan could not move from the doorway.

S'Evan was so wrapped up in his actions that he didn't notice Spock watching him until the very end. He dreaded to hear what his older brother had to say, expecting criticism for his emotionally charged routine. S'Evan glided up to Spock and powered down his skates, waiting silently for Spock's disapproval.

"So, Brother," Spock began, "did thee unwind sufficiently?"

S'Evan did a double take. There was no condemnation in Spock's words, yet neither was there approval.

"It's a start," he said noncommittally.

"Good," Spock replied. "Perhaps thee could explain the mechanics behind thy air skates and meaning of thy movements. Perhaps I could play the ka'athyra for thy next performance."

S'Evan smiled inwardly. It was a good start to their newly forged relationship, a _very_ good start.

End part 3


	4. It Takes a Village to Raise a Brother

Title: It Takes a Village to Raise a Brother

Author: Ster Julie

Genre: General?

Codes: S, OMC

Rating: T

--ooOoo--

Spock was certain that S'Evan was not sleeping. The boy made not a sound, yet his breathing held no pattern. Spock wondered if his young brother was weeping.

"S'Evan-kam," Spock called softly across the shelter. "What troubles thee? Come and tell me."

There was a rustle of bedclothes as S'Evan rose from his sleeping bench, crossed the floor of the shelter and curled against Spock's side. The elder Vulcan was startled at first, then remembered that his brother was still so very young, and until Spock had shown up in the garden, all alone in his time of great need. Spock also recalled when he himself had curled up against Ee-Chaya's great furry flank during times of childhood distress. Yesterday, S'Evan asked Spock to be his surrogate _sa-mekh._ Today, the boy needed Spock to be his surrogate _sehlat,_ it seemed.

Spock ran his hand lightly, soothingly over S'Evan's head and back. "What troubles thee?" he repeated.

"I am overwhelmed," S'Evan mumbled into Spock's shoulder.

"With?" Spock prompted.

"With so many things!"

"Name one."

"Gratitude!"

"Indeed? Why gratitude?"

"Thou came to me at an opportune time, as if thou were led to me. I see our father's hand in this, as if Sarek has become my guardian angel."

Spock's eyebrows flew upwards at that. He had heard about the concept of guardian angels from some of his mother's ancient books, but he did not believe in them, nor was he ever before accused of being one.

"We Vulcans believe that our ancestors can guide our path," Spock informed. "Sarek has certainly entered into that role, so perhaps he did guide his two sons together in their Time of need."

S'Evan shifted at Spock's side. "I prefer to think of Father as an angel," the boy said. "When I imagine him with great feathered wings, it softens him, takes the hard edges away. He's not the sick, raving, angry man he was at the end."

Spock's arm tightened around his brother. "What else troubles thee?" he continued after a pause.

"I want to talk about what happened with the _reldai,"_ S'Evan insisted.

Spock pulled back. "It is unseemly," he scolded.

"Well, whom else can I talk to about it?" S'Evan nearly shouted. "Father is gone, I have no wife, and I've sent Mother away."

Spock took a deep breath. He _had_ agreed to help his brother. "Ask," he encouraged.

"Whenever the _reldai_ touched my . . . touched me," S'Evan said with embarrassment, "I erupted and spilled into her hand. We never . . . We never got to the bed."

"Are thee saying that there was no penetration?" Spock asked.

"None." S'Evan raised his head and looked into his brother's eyes. "So, did I really pass through the Fires? Am I free of this for the next seven years, or will it come back sooner because we really didn't do . . . _it?"_

"Yes," Spock assured, "thee truly passed through the fires. It is normal to be highly sensitive to touch at the Awakening."

"Like a hair trigger?" S'Evan interjected.

"Like a hair trigger," Spock echoed, amused that the boy knew the human colloquialism, but not really surprised. Without Sarek's influence in S'Evan 's life, the boy seemed more Vulcan than human. Spock felt a pressing need to get his young brother caught up in so many areas of his life. But Spock also realized that S'Evan was having a profound influence on his own life.

"S'Evan-kam?"

"Yes, my brother?"

"I agree with thee," Spock said. "I believe our father _did_ draw us together in our Time of need."

"He brought thee to help me," S'Evan began.

"He brought _thee_ to help _me,"_ Spock admitted.

S'Evan propped himself up on his elbow. "In what way?" he asked.

"Ever since the passing of my wife twenty years prior," Spock confessed in a quiet voice, "I have been forced to procure the services of the _reldai_ to see me through my subsequent times of _pon farr_. And each time I have suffered bouts of guilt and depression afterward, as thought I was being unfaithful to my deceased wife by taking another to myself, illogical as that sounds. With thy needs, I have no time for such self-indulgence."

S'Evan was quiet for a long moment. "I had no idea," he said.

Spock shook his head. "Let us speak no more of it," he dismissed. "Let us speak of thy needs."

S'Evan sighed heavily and flopped back down. "My needs," he said with no enthusiasm.

"Yes," Spock replied with authority in his voice, _"thy_ needs, beginning with completing thy training in the ways of our people. I will seek out a _tela'at_ for thee for mastery of the mind rules. I will also ask the _kolinahru_ to take thee for a spell and train thee further in the Disciplines."

S'Evan's face crumpled at that. "Brother," he whined, "we are half human. Doesn't that count for anything?"

"Yes," Spock agreed sternly, "it accounts for many of the difficulties we have in learning the ways of _c'thia,"_ he countered. "We are both Vulcan sons of the line of Surak, which is a great responsibility. We are also Vulcan by blood and by birth. It behooves us to be diligent in our studies and in our practices."

S'Evan groaned in response.

"S'Evan-kam," Spock continued, "why must Vulcans master the passions?"

"Vulcans must master the passions lest they master us and savagery returns to our people," S'Evan parroted for his earlier studies.

"Why must Vulcans master the passions?" Spock asked a second time.

"Vulcans must master the passions so that we and our children may know peace."

"Why must Vulcans master the passions?"

"Vulcans must master the passions because the deeds of one, be they peaceful or passionate, affect the good of the many."

Spock was satisfied. S'Evan had shown mastery of the first lessons in _c'thia, _the lessons every seven year old had to know before going through _kahs'wan._ However, S'Evan was now twenty. It was time to go past the _c'thia_ primers.

"The_ kolinahru_ will teach thee much and in a shorter time than thou might suspect," Spock confided as he ticked off a checklist in his head. "Next, we need to address thy educational needs. Have thee given any thought to a career?"

S'Evan made another face. "I want to skate," he said obstinately.

"Can thee make a living out of skating?" Spock asked. "How does it edify our people?"

S'Evan geared up for an argument. He could almost hear Sarek say, _"Skating does not put food on the table!"_

"It can," he argued. "It can inspire people, make them forget their own problems for a few moments and be entertained. It can motivate others to try skating for themselves, thereby perpetuating the sport."

"I was merely asking a question, my brother," Spock chided gently. "I was not condemning thee." S'Evan hung his head for a moment. "So are thee saying that thee want to be an artist?" Spock asked. S'Evan looked up. "There is always a need for artists in the universe. However, how will the sport perpetuate itself if thee are the only person with the only existing pair of air skates?"

"I'll make more," S'Evan countered.

"So, thee engineered these," Spock asked, " by thyself?"

S'Evan nodded. "I had had some engineering and physics classes in school. I created the first pair as part of a school project."

Spock looked at the boy. "How many pairs of skates have thee created?"

S'Evan thought for a moment. "Perhaps a dozen."

"And on what did thee base the first pair?"

S'Evan smiled in the dim light of the shelter. "My mother took me ice skating when I was five," he reminisced. "We had gone to Earth to visit her family for Christmas. I was enthralled by the freedom I felt on the ice. Even though the cold air nearly froze my extremities, I refused to get off the ice until Mother literally picked me up and carried me inside." Spock smiled inwardly at the mental image. "I protested --_loudly_-- all the way into the bath. She told me later that I would have to think of a way to skate that would not be so dangerous for a 'desert rat' like me."

"Desert rat?" Spock repeated.

"It is her pet name for me," S'Evan explained.

Spock raised an eyebrow. Amanda _never_ referred to him as anything as derogatory as the appellation "desert rat." However, she did have an annoying habit of calling him "Baby" up until the day she died. Spock decided to keep _that_ information to himself.

"Anyway," S'Evan continued, "I started pouring over all kind of books on skates, then on alternative footwear. Mother made me promise that I never try my prototypes on myself. I had to use effigies for my first attempts."

"Effigies?" Spock queried.

"I used to tie bundles of sticks together and stuff them into my old clothes, tie on the prototype skates and try them out by remote control. It's a good thing that Mother made me promise that. The time I used magnets for propulsion, the effigy skated out of control, leapt over the wall and was annihilated in a fall into the canyon. "I only began to get some success when I switched to gravity boots." S'Evan smiled again, remembering the time, the first, last and _only_ time, a statue of some ancestor came gliding to a stop at Sarek's feet.

Spock noticed that, as the boy spoke, it was clear that he had a creative mind and followed good principles of scientific and engineering research.

"S'Evan," Spock asked, "what were thy strongest subjects in school?"

"Easy," the boy replied, "Science, especially Physics, Mathematics, and Dance."

Spock nodded. S'Evan would need to master all those in order to perfect both his craft and his invention. "Excellent," the elder Vulcan commented. "Let us first complete thy formal studies in _c'thia_ and in the telepathic arts. My teaching credentials are still valid, so thee can do independent studies with me in the sciences. We will need to find a dance instructor for thee."

S'Evan sighed. "So," he said, "thee will find a _tela'at_ for my mind, a _kolinahru _for my Vulcan studies, and a dance instructor for me while thee tutors me in the sciences. It sounds as if thee are amassing a whole village for me."

Spock's arm tightened around his young sibling.

"S'Evan-kam," he said warmly, "sometimes it take a village to raise a brother."

End part 4


	5. I Met a Girl Today

T itle: I Met a Girl Today

Author: Ster Julie

Codes: S, OMC (S'Evan Series)

Rating: PG

Part 1 of 1

A/N: T'Uva is based loosely (or not) on Turkey's figure skater Tugba Karademir.

--ooOoo--

S'Evan came home in a daze.

Spock had seen the boy enter the estate's main gate just after sunset. His airskates were thrown over his shoulder, and his body leaned back against the ancient wooden gate. Lady Amanda, and perhaps Perrin as well, would have called the expression on S'Evan's face "a stupid, sloppy grin." Spock blew out his meditation candle and descended the terrace stairs.

S'Evan didn't move a muscle during Spock's entire approach. Spock didn't speak a word, knowing that S'Evan would speak only when he was good and ready.

"I met a girl today," S'Evan sighed dreamily.

"Thee acts as if this were the first time thee encountered a female," Spock quipped.

"No," S'Evan said, waving away his brother's silly remark. "Perhaps I should say I met an _angel_ today."

Spock crossed his arms at the inane comment. "An angel?" he echoed. "And how did you meet this angel?"

"She was in the next dance class," S'Evan explained excitedly. "When I saw her, my liver began to quiver."

"Liver began to quiver?" Spock repeated. "Really, S'Evan-kam."

"Well, _something_ was quivering inside me!" the youth explained excitedly. "I watched her practice some of her steps. Then our eyes met. Brother, my _katra_ sang! I stayed to watch her lesson, and I thought that she would be a _natural_ on the airskates! I stayed until her class was finished and I asked her name."

Spock looked at his brother expectantly, raising his eyebrow as if to say, "Well?"

S'Evan took in a deep breath and spoke her name with reverence. "T'Uva," he sighed.

Spock shook his head. He knew many of the local families, and he had never heard of a female named T'Uva. "To what clan does she belong?" Spock asked.

S'Evan pushed himself off the gate and paced away from his brother. "Does it matter?" he ground out. "I don't care what her clan is."

Spock merely dipped his head in a Vulcan shrug. "It was only a question. It matters not to me if she was from the lowliest of all the clans. I asked only because it would be unseemly for thee to become involved with a close relative."

"Involved?" S'Evan reiterated.

"From thy earlier behavior, I assumed that thee wished to court this young woman," Spock explained.

S'Evan blushed verdantly. He certainly wanted to do more than just court T'Uva! S'Evan distracted himself from having a physical reaction to thoughts of his ladylove by slapping on his airskates. He glided to a small clearing in the courtyard. "I showed T'Uva how easily her dance movements could transfer over to skating," the boy said as he mimicked the girl's graceful movements. Suddenly he grasped his own hands and shivered. "She has the _most_ expressive hands!" he whispered. "So delicate!"

Spock studied his brother's antics. The boy was obviously smitten, yet Spock wondered what the girl's reaction was.

S'Evan carried on his narrative. "She let me put the airskates on her feet," he continued. "It wasn't a good fit so I had to hold her hands at first until she got a feel for the skates. Then she tried some of her dance steps." S'Evan smiled wide. "Her whole face lit up, Brother!" he cried, but then he blushed again and ducked his head.

"What happened?" Spock asked gently.

"She has these huge dark eyes," S'Evan continued softly, "and when she looked at me like that . . . well, I guess I passed out a little because I fell at her feet. I tried to cover it by removing the skates." S'Evan's voice changed as he imitated her gentle lilt. He said in a formal manner, "She said, 'I would be honored to see thee perform some time.'" He grabbed Spock's arms. "Can you believe it? _She wants to see me skate!"_

Spock gently removed his brother's hands from his robe and held them. He studied his brother's expressive face. Spock decided not to squelch his brother's excitement by scolding him for his lack of emotional control, for this was truly a great event in S'Evan's young life. Spock only hoped the girl was unbonded, for S'Evan's sake.

"Then by all means," Spock said, "let us plan thy performance carefully so that she can see the best that thee can offer." S'Evan sighed happily and drew himself up to his full, impressive height. "But first," Spock began. S'Evan crumpled at his brother's words. "First, let us have endmeal. Then we can begin planning for a short while. Then thee need to address thy studies, and please _try_ to meditate before you retire for the night."

S'Evan did not succeed at hiding his smile. Studies and meditation. It was a old argument between them already."

_"Ah, Sa-Kai tal-kam!" _S'Evan replied.

END

Yes, Brother dear!


End file.
